Daniel's Finally Had Enough
by JediMagnet09
Summary: Daniel lets Jack have it. I thought Daniel really wasn't frustrated enough after such a horrible year of crap happening to him. Carter might be a little ooc in this story, but I'm not sure. Sorry! :
1. Chapter 1

NOTE: spoilers for Legacy, Forever in a Day, Jolinar's Memories/The Devil You Know, Shades of Grey, Crystal Skull, The Other Side,

This is my first fanfiction that I've posted EVER ANYWHERE, so I'm a little nervous about it.... I made the changes some people suggested and I want to thank EVERYONE for reviews and suggestions. I'm going to update today and put in Chapter 2. Again, thanks for the reviews! :)

* * *

"Have you noticed anything wrong with Daniel lately?" Jack asked his companions, as they lounged about the ruins, keeping an eye on their archaeologist, who was quietly reading one of the crumbling walls a distance away.

Carter frowned slightly, her gaze drifting over to their friend. "He _has_ been really quiet recently." she admitted worriedly.

"I believe he has been so, since the events on Euronda." Teal'c offered, his face as stoic as usual, though his friends could read his concern in his eyes.

Jack froze as he registered Teal'c's observation. _Euronda. Crap. _Daniel had certainly been different since Euronda. _"DANIEL! Shut up. Is __**that **__clear enough for you?" No wonder he's been quiet. _"We never talked about that. Not really." Jack said, softly, speaking more to himself than his teammates.

Carter winced, her eyes focused on the ground. "Maybe it's time, sir."

_I can do this. It's just a little conversation. It's just Daniel. I can do this. _Jack's pep talk didn't seem to be helping him, so he forced himself to walk through the door to Daniel's office. Daniel looked up, his gaze darkening almost imperceptibly before he turned back to his bookshelf. "Hey." Jack greeted.

"Hi." Daniel still didn't turn to face him.

"Are you okay, Daniel? You've been....quiet....lately. Carter thinks we need to talk." He did feel a tad guilty for placing the blame on Carter, but if it would help through this conversation....well, she could take one for the team, right? He'd make it up to her somehow.

Daniel nodded, still not turning around. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Immediately, a red flag went up in Jack's mind. Daniel was never "fine" if he said he was "fine". "Fine" in Daniel's world meant "No, I feel like crap, but I'm not going to talk to you about it." Jack took a step forward, leaning against one of the bookshelves, preparing himself for the argument he knew was coming. "Why don't I believe you?" he asked, taking a leaf from Teal'c's book of intimidation and raising one eyebrow in disbelief. Jack took a step back in shock when Daniel suddenly spun around, slamming his hands down on the table behind him.

"NO, Jack! No! I'm not alright! Is that what you want to hear?!" his eyes were dark with fury.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked, his mind reeling with Daniel's sudden outburst. Daniel was calm. Daniel didn't explode this easily. Obviously this talk was way overdue. Unfortunately, it was the wrong thing to say.

Daniel threw his hands up in the air in anger and exasperation, a small sound of disgust coming from him. "Wrong? What could possibly be wrong? In the last few months, I've been tossed in a padded cell, lost the woman I wanted to spend eternity with to filthy snakes, gone to _hell_, let my best friend go missing for three months, been told by that same best friend that our friendship had 'no foundation' within a week or two of finding him after going days and weeks without food and sleep working on a solution to his disappearance, found my grandfather and regained his respect only to lose him immediately, been completely invisible to the world while my friend's went to sleep rather than dedicate themselves to finding me like I would have for them, then to top it all off, the only shred of dignity I had left was stripped from me for a whole room of people to see by the same best friend that seemed to think getting weapons was worth becoming no better than the Goa'uld who took my wife in the first place." Daniel took a deep breath, his chest heaving, his eyes flaming. "So I'm sorry if I can be 'a little flaky on a good day' but no I'm not okay." Silence enveloped the room as the archaeologist tried to steady his shaking hands.

Jack opened his mouth to speak then closed it again. What could he say to that? He felt like such an idiot. The last few months had been torture for Daniel and his team hadn't been there for him. Heck, his team had been the cause of most of his problems. Daniel suddenly grabbed his jacket off the chair and stormed out of the room. Jack was about to follow, when he heard a muffled sob behind him. He turned to see Carter and Teal'c standing in the doorway.

Carter was trying to contain her tears unsuccessfully. Teal'c had his hands on her shoulders in silent support. "It seems we have done DanielJackson a great injustice." Teal'c said, quietly. His stoic expression had disappeared, to be replaced by one of great concern.

"Colonel, what are we going to do? Daniel is hurting so badly and it's our fault." Carter managed.

Jack's expression was firm. "We're going to fix it, Carter. We're going to fix it."


	2. Chapter 2

I couldn't remember what Jack's house was surrounded by, so I went with what was convenient for the story…… Thanks for being patient!

Thanks for all the reviews and please keep them coming! I did my best to structure this chapter a little better, but honestly I'm not sure I did it right, so my apologies if it's hard to read and please feel free to correct my structure…..

Hope you like it!

* * *

_I shouldn't have lost it. _Daniel was already regretting his words. They were true, but weren't something he had planned to say to Jack ever, much less all at once in such an explosive manner. Daniel ran his hand through his hair, trying to slow his breathing, as he drove down the road. He didn't know where he was going. He just knew he needed to get as far away from the mountain as possible. He wished now more than ever that Sha're was here. She had always been able to keep him steady, cheer him up, drive away his frustration. _It's bee__n months since her death, yet I still ache at the thought of her. _Somewhere deep inside him he knew that ache would never go away. A part of him would never let her go, never forget how much he wanted her, needed her, loved her. He could still hear her voice sometimes, calling his name, see her smile at him as he walked towards her, see her bright eyes sparkling as he tried to do something she had been able to do since childhood. _Oh, Sha're. I miss you._

"Do you have a signal on his phone yet?" Jack asked, impatiently.

Carter sighed. "Almost, sir."

Teal'c stood silently by, his thoughts concealed as usual by the stoic mask on his face, though Jack could see the regretful concern in the Jaffa's eyes.

"We'll find him, Teal'c. We'll bring him back and we'll fix it." He was so tired of saying that. _"We're going to fix it." Are we? Will Daniel even let us? The man has been pushed away, ignored, rejected so many times. He's lost so much. Can we really fix this? Or is it too late?_

Daniel finally put the car in park, looking at his surroundings, momentarily surprised at where his wanderings had taken him. _Jack's house. Of course. _The irony of this wasn't lost on the archaeologist, but he chose for the moment to ignore it. He really didn't want to go home. He didn't want to see anyone or talk to anyone. He longed for solitude, yet at the same time, knew he probably shouldn't be alone. Jack was fond of reminding his young teammate of how much of a trouble-magnet he was. Daniel tried to protest, but usually to no avail. Mostly because he knew Jack was right. _Nothing I plan on telling him of course. I'd never live it down. _Daniel sighed deeply as he finally got out of the car. _What am I going to do now? _He wondered, as he slowly made his way into the trees surrounding Jack's house. What _was_ he going to do? He just wasn't sure he could continue at the SGC anymore. Not if it was going to continue on as the past few months had been. He _was_ sure he would have a hard time getting a job anywhere else. _The nut-job who thought the pyramids were landing sites for aliens doesn't look good on __**any**__ payroll. Never mind that I was right. _Daniel winced as the unpleasant memory flashed across his mind:

_Nick sat in the chair, looking up at Jack def__iantly. "He staked his entire academic career on this belief that the great pyramids of Egypt were made by aliens." To Jack's credit, he looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Yes, well, that's…." Jack clearly didn't know what to say. "He was more insane t__han I was. I told him so." _

Daniel sighed. _Yeah, Nick, you sure did. _Quickly turning from this line of thinking before it could go any further, Daniel sank at the base of a tree, his knees drawn up to his chest, resting his forehead down on them, his arms wrapped around himself. It was chilly outside. In his rush, he had left his jacket in the car. _I should probably go get it. _But he made no move to. Unbidden, another memory rose to Daniel's mind. The last time he had been inside Jack's house…..

"_Then no, I guess you couldn't relate to me any more than I could to you." Those words stung more than Daniel wanted to admit. Sure, they hadn't connected at first, but it wasn't like that __**now**__ was it? All these years working together, developing their fr__iendship. They'd had their ups and downs, but all friends did. It was part of friendship. "So, this whole, ah, this whole friendship thing we've been working on the last few years…..?" Daniel would never be able to forget his best friend's response. "__Apparently not much of a foundation there, huh?" _

Daniel still felt pain at those words. Yeah, Jack had explained himself, but still….. Things had been different since then. Jack treated him differently. And things on Euronda had shown Daniel that things weren't right and hadn't been right for too long. _All good things end. This job isn't any different. These friends…..aren't any different. _Daniel silently cursed himself for ever thinking otherwise. 

"I got him, sir!"

Carter's exclamation was a relief to the Colonel as he came to look over her shoulder at the computer screen. "So? Where is he?" Jack asked, his impatience clear in his voice.

Carter looked confused. "He-He's at your house, sir."

Jack's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "My house? Probably vandalizing it or something." He muttered under his breath.

Teal'c looked confused now. "I do not think DanielJackson would intentionally cause harm to your property, O'Neill. Perhaps he seeks solace in the woods." Teal'c suggested.

Jack rolled his eyes, then finally nodded. "Well, it doesn't really matter why he's there, he is there. Let's go get him."


	3. Chapter 3

Well, here it is the last chapter. I just wanted to thank everyone for the reviews and for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! I have a few stories in the works and hopefully will be posting more soon, but unfortunately real life comes first. Stupid college. ;) Anyway, thanks to everyone!

* * *

Jack didn't usually take to speeding, but he felt a sense of urgency now that he couldn't ignore. Daniel needed him. He knew it. The young archaeologist shouldn't be left alone. Not right now. The relief Jack felt as he pulled in the driveway and saw Daniel's car still there was almost overwhelming. _Still here. Still got a chance. _"Carter, Teal'c, watch Daniel's car and don't let him anywhere near it. I'm going to go find him." Jack ordered, already moving off. The Colonel headed straight for the woods. His gut told him that was where Daniel was and he trusted his gut. Treading softly, Jack saw Daniel before Daniel heard him. Daniel was sitting, back against a tree, knees pulled up to his chest, the heels of his hands pressed up against his eyes. His friend radiated such anxiety, such despair, that Jack was sure he felt his heart drop down to somewhere in his toes. "Daniel?"

Daniel started violently at Jack's soft call, turning to look at him in surprise.

"Hey. Can we talk?" Jack asked.

Daniel turned back around, not looking at him, then finally nodded accompanied by a half-hearted shrug.

Jack winced as he got down on his bad knees, then finally sat down beside his friend. _What do I say? How do I fix this? _Finally, Jack said the first thing that came to mind. "I'm sorry, Daniel." He watched in slight surprise as Daniel jerked and looked over at him, his eyes wide with surprise. _How often do I apologize anyway? _Jack wondered.

Daniel's apparently speechless mouth was hanging open, a small "What?" escaping his lips.

_Apparently not often enough. _"I'm sorry." Jack repeated a little more forcefully. "I've been a lousy leader and an even worse friend recently and you've taken the brunt of the fallout. And I'm sorry." As much as he didn't want this touchy feely moment, he knew he owed it to Daniel. To Daniel, who_ needed _this moment, needed to hear this. "I promise I'll do my best to make all of this up to you, Daniel. But if I'm going to make it up to you, you need to stick around."

_How does he do that? _Daniel wondered, as his friend's words registered in his muddled brain. _How does he know I was thinking about leaving? _Daniel looked into Jack's face, studying him closely, trying to find that ring of truth he knew would be there. Jack wouldn't have said something like what he just had without meaning it and he knew that, but he still needed to see that _look_ Jack got when he was telling the truth, talking about something that meant a lot to him.

Jack wasn't exactly sure what Daniel was looking for, but he made sure to keep his face open and honest, knowing Daniel would see anything he tried to hide. Apparently, the young archaeologist found what he looking for, because he finally looked away and nodded.

"Okay."

They sat there in silence for a moment before Jack let out a slight groan between gritted teeth. "Alright, Daniel. Enough touchy feely. I need to get up before my knees start screaming any louder." A second later, Daniel was on his feet, looking concerned.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Jack, I should have noticed." Daniel said, already speaking at a million miles an hour, concern clear on his face.

Jack did his best to hide a grin. His archaeologist was back. He started as a hand suddenly appeared in his line of sight. Looking up at Daniel, he saw the young man watching him, steadily. The offered hand, a peace offering, an olive branch for the two of them. Jack grasped it tightly and let Daniel help him up. Things weren't perfect by far and Jack knew he had a long way to go before Daniel was completely _Daniel_ again and he knew he could probably expect a few more touchy feely moments in the future, but they were closer to normal, to right, than they had been in a long time. Things would be okay. They could be a complete team again. Trust could be restored. "Let's go home, spacemonkey."


End file.
